Carbon pack holder for manifold typewriters



May 23, 1950 L. A. PETlT CARBON PACK HOLDER FOR MANIFOLD TYPEWRITERS Filed March 29, 1946 2 Shets-Sheet l 3t W M May 23, 1950 L. A. PETIT CARBON PACK HOLDER FOR MANIFOLD TYPEWRITERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 29, 1946 QM MW ,1:

fn 'emzbr' LAll/Pf/VCE A. l ET/T 7 Win/y W 5 Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARBON PACK "HOLDER FORMANIFGLD TYPEWRITERS Laurence A. .Petit, Chicago,.1ll.. Application March '29, 194B, Serial'No. 658,057

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to carbon pack holders for-machines of the class of manifold typewriters in which a plurality .of work sheets are simultaneously'fed over the typewriter platen with strips of carbon paper between them for the making of duplicate copies. An example of such-a machine isshown in my prior Patent No. 2,236,155, granted March .25, v 1941, and in the same patent I have shown carbon packs for use with such a .machine. The present invention constitutes an improvement in carbon packs and holders for thesame for use with such machines.

.In .the normal use of machines of this character, when such a machine is being made ready for operation, asheet of carbon paper willbe disposed between each pair of work sheets in position to'be fed over the platen as the data is being typed upon the top sheet. As 'is well understood in .the art, after one set of work sheets has been completed in the machine the platen maybe released, or at least, the Work sheets are released from .pressure against the platen, and the ends of the typed work sheets pulled out a suflicient distance .to free them from the carbon sheets which are prevented from advancing so that the carbon sheets thereafter are disposed between the next set of work sheets. If desired, the set of worksheets already typed upon maybe torn 01f before the operator proceeds to type upon the next set. In obtaining proper positioning of the 3 carbon sheets between thenextset of worksheets, .it is customary for the operator to push backwardly a carbon shifter frame on which the various carbon packs are mounted so that the carbon sheets and to unwrap the carbon paper from that frame.

Likewise in my Patent Nor 2,393,409, granted January 22, 1946, of which this application issan improvement, the sheets offcarbon paper in a single pack were wrapped on a frame and to advance additional fresh carbonpaperit was necessary for the operator to separate the work r sheets and to unwind carbon paper from each individualframe.

According to the present invention, I provide a new pack and pack holder which do not require separation-of the work sheets upon the feeding of fresh carbon paper to the work position, and which provide for more economical use of carbon paper, eliminating much of the waste that has heretofore characterized the use of prior carbon packs.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide a pack holder and apack therefor which may readily be mounted in a machine of the character of manifold typewriters, the invention being particularly designed to minimize the weight'andspace requirements of such packs and holders when mounted upon the machine.

,Another-object-of the invention i to provide a pack holder for carbon packs especially designed to facilitate quick attachment of fresh packs and removal of exhausted packs therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new form of carbon pack and holder therefor which cooperate in providing convenient and economical feeding of carbon paper between the work sheets of manifold typewriters.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carbon pack and a, holder therefor which is adapted to facilitate the feeding of fresh supplies of carbonpaper toward the typewriter platen, with no disturbance of the work sheets between which "the carbon papers are interleaved. Another object is to provide a, pack holder which may be used with many successive packs. Otherobjects and advantages of theinvention will be specifically alluded to hereinafter or will become apparent from a perusal of the following specification, in which, to illustrate the nature of the invention, a preferred embodiment thereof is shown and described.

As shown on the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of'the pack holder.

Figure .2 is a sideelevation of the pack holder as viewed from the .endof Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the pack holder with a carbon pack mounted thereon as assembled ready for use.

Figure '4 is a side elevation of the assembled packholderand carbon pack-as viewed from the end of Figure "3.

:Figure 51is aside elevation (exploded) of carbon pack illustrating the pack just prior to its assembly.

Figure 6 isaparti'al sectional view at about the line VI--VI of Figure 3 showing a stripof carbon paper fed through the locking mechanism just before the locking mechanism is locked.

Figure 7 is a partial sectional view on the line VI-VI of Figure 3 showing the locking mechanism after it has been rotated to locked position.

tween the folds of the carbon paper, with the free ends of the interleaved tissues clamped between the flap l4 and the heavy base l and held therein securely by means of one or more staples l5. As explained in my copending application,

the interleaved tissues are disposed between opposing faces of the carbon paper which carry the carbon composition, these tissues therefore serv ing to prevent the treated surfaces of the carbon paper from adhering to each other, rubbing upon each other, or otherwise being marred by contact. The tissue protects them and enables the operator of a manifolding machine easily to draw additional folds of carbon paper from the pack as extended portions of the carbon paper in use i become worn out.

The exploded view in Figure 5 shows this disposition of the tissues and zig-zag folds of the carbon'paper, but Figure 4 shows the pack as it is actually assembled.

Each pack made in accordance with this invention is provided with a pair of holes 16 by means of which the pack may be readily mounted upon the pack holder which will now be described.

As shown in Figure 1, the pack holder includes a sheet of heavy paper I! which is wrapped about a mounting bar I8, the wrapping flap l9 being secured to the base ll by means of a plurality of staples 2B, or by some other suitable securing means. The mounting bar I8 is preferably provided with a pair of holes 2| and a slot 22 by means of which the mounting bar when extending transversely of the machine may be releasably secured to opposite carbon shifter brackets 38 shown in my prior Patent No. 2,236,155, these brackets having a series of steps, on each pair of which steps a carbon pack may be mounted for interleaving between the work sheets.

A reinforcing layer of paper 23 is secured to the base H by means of staples such as 24. A metal bar 25 is pivotally mounted on 23 at 26 and extending from it upper surface are a pair of posts 21 and 28. A short metal plate 29 pivotally mounted on the base at is provided with a flange 3| which is bent over to loosely engage the end of the bar 25. Preferably the short post 28,

which has one function of cooperating with a hole 7 I 6 in retaining the carbon pack on the carbon pack holder, serves here another function. The

post 28 is actually secured to the plate 29 and extends through a suitable aperture in the plate 25, and thus bar 25 may beoscillated by means of plate 29 and post 28. The other post 21 is sewhen it is mounted on the pack holder by means of the holes l6 engaging posts 21 and 28, its longitudinal alignment may be slightly varied by shifting the handle 32 between the extreme positions for that handle shown in Figure 1.

Mounted on the other end of the base I! of the carbon pack holder I provide a flat metal plate 36 which may be secured by hooks, rivets, or other suitable devices to the paper base [1. This plate 36 furnishes a rigid support on which may be mounted a V-shaped wire having two legs 31 and 38, the entire length of the wire to its apex being free except for the ends of the V which are secured in any suitable manner to the plate 38 within the housing 39. The wire legs 31 and 38 are sufiiciently resilient so that the operator may readilylift and bend them upwardly to permit the insertion of carbon paper between the wire V and the plate 36.

Also mounted on the plate 36 is a clamp member 40 secured to a rotatable rod 4| which is pivotally supported in bearings 42 and 43. A short crank is connected to the rod 4| so that the operator may manually rotate the clamping member 4!! to the open position shown in Figure 6 or to the clamping position shown in Figure '7. A tension spring 45'is connected to this handle eccentrically of the axis of the rod 4! in such a manner that the clamping plate 40 will be urged by the spring .5 to remain either in open or closed position but not in any intermediate position.

The curved portion 46 of the housing 39 prevents the work sheets moving past this position from being caught u on oriniured by thi mechanism. It will be noted upon referring to Figure 1 that the c ampingmechanism does not extend the full width of the carbon pack support, but does extend farenough transversely of that support to provide adequate clamping of the carbon sheets, while by reason of itsshorter dimenr sion making it easier for the operator to slide the sheet of carbon pa er under the clamping wire.

When the top fold of a sheet of carbon paper is initially to be fed through the clamping mechanism. it is pulled out from under the wrapper 35 which surrounds the pack and carbon folds. the clam ing plate 40 is rotated to open position as shown in Figure 6 and the carbon strip is pulled over the top of the clamping plate as shown in Figure 6 and then is inserted under the V-shaped wire clam which may be sprung upwardly to facilitate that operation. The operator will then grasp the handle 44 and rotate' the clamping plate 43 to locked position as shown in Figure Twhereupon the carbon strip then becomes snubbed over theed'ge of plate 40 and underneath the legs 37 and 38, and then extends forwardly in the manifolding machine.

It will be recalled that a plurality of these carbon packs and carbon pack holders are to" be mounted on the carbon shifter frame in a manifold machine, and that when the operator of the machine has completed the typing of a set of forms he will release the pressure of the platen on the forms and draw the work sheets forwardly while pushing the carbon shifter frame rearwardly from the platen in order to pull the carbon sheets back into proper position between the next set of forms. The clamping mechanism which has just been described prevents the car'- bon'sheets from feeding out from the carbon pack holders inadvertently during the shifting opera-- tion, as well as at any other time. However, when the operator has suiiiciently worn out the carbon surfaces which have been repeatedly used over the platen, it is a simple matter merely to release the clamps 40 on all of the carbon pack holders and pull out sufficient additional lengths of carbon strips to furnish fresh working surfaces. This may be accomplished by pulling the worn carbon areas along with the typed set of forms and tearing the carbons simultaneously with the typed forms. The pressure of the V-shaped wire clamp is such that the sheets may be pulled readily underneath it whenever the clamp 40 is rotated to open position as shown in Figure 6, and when sufficient carbon has been pulled out the clamp 40 will again be locked against wire leg 31.

It will now be appreciated that the carbon packs themselves add little weight to the entire assembly, beyond the weight of the carbon sheets, the backing for each pack being a simple structure consisting of no more than heavy paper.

Also the carbon pack holder, one of which is shown in Figure 1, is likewise a structure having relatively little weight, although the pack holder is sufficiently durable that it may be used with many successive carbon packs. The matter of Weight saving is important because of the fact that the entire carbon shifter assembly must move transversely with the work sheets during the typing of the forms and the shifter itself must be also moved longitudinally with the feeding of the work sheets over the platen as well as longitudinally in the opposite direction when the operator shifts the carbon shifter carriage rearwardly.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the cabon pack and carbon pack holder it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction herein described and illustrated, but that the invention is susceptible of considerable variation and modification without departure from the scope of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A carbon pack holder for use with a manifold machine comprising a carbon pack supporting sheet-like base member having means for connection with a mounting bar adapted for mounting on the machine transversely thereof between the Work sheets of the machine, a thin strap-like member pivotally mounted on said base member having upstanding projections for connection with a carbon pack, and means for adjusting said strap-like member angularly relative to the longitudinal center line of the holder to thereby angularly shift the longitudinal center line of a carbon pack which may be attached to said member.

2. A carbon pack holder for use in a manifold machine comprising a flat base member having means at its rear end for connection with a mounting bar adapted for mounting transversely of the machine between superposed work sheets, means on the rear portion of said member for attachment of a carbon pack, a carbon sheet restraining member supported at one lateral edge of the base and extending transversely across the forward edge portion of the base and terminating in a free un-anchored end portion which may bar adapted for mounting transversely of the machine between superposed work sheets, a thin strap pivotally mounted on said base member adjoining said loop and having upstanding projections thereon fo engagement with erforations in a carbon pack for holding the latter upon said base member, means for adjustably positioning said strap angularly about its pivotal mounting, a resilient restraining element mounted on said base member remotely from said strap extending transversely of the base member positioned for resiliently pressing a carbon sheet against the base member when the carbon sheet is partially withdrawn from the pack, and a manually operable clamping member mounted on said base extending transversely thereof adjacent said resilient element operable to and from a position where it cooperates with said resilient element for clamping a carbon sheet therebetween.

4. A carbon pack holder adapted for use in a manifold machine comprising a sheet-like base member having means at the rear end thereof for connection with a mounting bar adapted for transversely thereof and terminating in a free un-anchored end portion which may be lifted from the base to permit insertion of a carbon sheet thereunder, and means positioned at said lateral edge of the base member for rendering said clamping means operative or inoperative to grip or release a carbon sheet extending from a pack when supported on said holder.

LAURENCE A. PETIT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,133,331 Smith Mar. 30, 1915 2,183,276 Collins et al Dec. 12, 1939 2,292,343 McAlvin Aug. 4, 1942 2,343,796 Petit Mar. '7, 1944 2,363,661 Feitl Nov. 28, 1944 2,387,667 Leibfritz Oct. 23, 1945 

